Holocaust Victims Call On Nigel Farage to Make Amends Over Claimed Antisemitic Remarks.
A coalition of Holocaust survivors has insisted that Nigel Farage be honest and issue an apology for alleged anti-Jewish taunts he is said to have made toward Jewish pupils during his youth.
The Reform UK leader has claimed he never racially abused anyone with malicious intent, proposing it may have been mere "playground banter".
"As Shoah survivors, we understand the profound danger of words of hatred – for we have experienced firsthand where such words can lead," wrote the survivors in a open letter.
"We must be unambiguous: praising Hitler, mocking gas chambers, or shouting racist insults is not simple joking. Not on a schoolyard. Not under any circumstances."
A Pointed Inquiry
The letter puts forth straightforward questions to the party leader: "Is it true you said ‘Hitler was right’ and ‘gas them,’ while mimicking gas chambers? Did you expose your classmates to bigoted harassment?"
The Survivors
The group of eleven survivors contains individuals with devastating personal histories from the Nazi genocide.
- Hedi Argent, who was bereaved of 27 members of her immediate and extended family.
- Simon Winston, who was held in a ghetto before fleeing in 1942 and spending the rest of the war as a fugitive.
- Anita Lasker-Wallfisch, who was deported to Auschwitz-Birkenau and later moved to Bergen-Belsen, where she was freed.
Other signatories include Janine Webber, Edith Jayne, Helen Aronson, Ruth Barnett, John Fieldsend, Susan Pollack, Hanneke Dye and Agnes Kaposi.
Increasing Allegations
This intervention is a response to the dismissal of similar testimony by more than several dozen former pupils and teachers as "fabricated nonsense" by a deputy leader.
After the story broke, additional former pupils have come forward. Nearly thirty ex-students and educators now state they saw racist or antisemitic behaviour by him.
One prominent testimony comes from Peter Ettedgui, a Jewish-born Bafta and Emmy-winning director, who recalls that a young Farage would sidle up to him and repeat the phrases "Hitler had the correct idea" and "send them to the gas chambers", on occasion adding a long hiss to mimic the sound of the gas chambers.
Further Allegations
Additional alumni from ethnic minorities have likewise spoken publicly with accounts of targeted insults.
- Cyrus Oshidar said he was referred to as a "racial slur" and has dismissed the idea that such actions were not meant to hurt.
- Another pupil of Asian descent portrayed him as an "blatant racist" who would use the phrase "Enoch Powell had a point" as a form of "racial intimidation".
The Survivors' Final Appeal
The final appeal asks a concluding question to Farage: "By denying saying those words, do you mean that dozens of individuals are fabricating their stories? Should the allegations be true, now is the moment to take responsibility and make amends."
"Those who aspire to lead our country should under no circumstances divide people by background or belief. Hatred of Jews must never become acceptable. This moment is about ethical duty. The choice is yours, Mr Farage."
